A brand-new long distance walking route will open in one of England’s most beautiful regions next month

England has welcomed some major new walking trails this year. After 16 years of work, the mammoth King Charles III England Coast Path was finally inaugurated. Shortly after that, the legendary Coast to Coast Path was given official National Trail status. Now, there’s another walking route to add to the list. 

The brand new Westmorland and Furness Way is made up of existing trails (wherever possible) across two national parks and one national landscape. They’ve been combined to create a continuous 120-mile route that stretches across northwest England from the town of Alston in the north to the 900-year-old ruins of Furness Abbey in the south. 

The trail has been designed to show off the region’s ‘rich heritage, nature and diverse landscapes’. It takes ramblers through the Pennines, across the Yorkshire Dales, around the Lakes and along the Furness Coast. That means you’ll be treated to a glorious range of views from rugged mountains to glimmering lakes and dense woodlands to historic landmarks.

If you want to walk the whole trail in one go, it would take around eight to 17 days, depending on how leisurely you take it. However, the route has also been helpfully split into six smaller sections for those who just want to traverse it for a day or a long weekend.

For a day trip, the best section would be the 26km stretch from Alston to Milburn or the 26km chunk from Kirkby Stephen to Sedbergh. The former features Greg’s Hut, which is the highest bothy in England, the wildlife-rich waters of the River South Tyne and the cute little village of Garrigill. The latter includes Iron Age settlement Croglam Castle, the Smardale viaduct and the spectacular 198m Cautley Spout waterfall.

While much of it is already accessible to walkers, the new route will officially launch on September 15, as part of the Sedbergh Walking & Wellbeing Festival. 

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